[flea]

While I liked it, I did miss the politics of the book.

Asshole alert: Many shots of Chani looked like an advertisement for perfume. Given the actress, I always had the feeling she was going to snort a line of spice.

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

flea, on 08 November 2021 - 05:07 PM, said:

While I liked it, I did miss the politics of the book.

Asshole alert: Many shots of Chani looked like an advertisement for perfume. Given the actress, I always had the feeling she was going to snort a line of spice.

The entire movie looks like a perfume ad, TBH.

[Maark Abbott]

ContrarianMalazanReader, on 09 November 2021 - 04:04 PM, said:

flea, on 08 November 2021 - 05:07 PM, said:

While I liked it, I did miss the politics of the book.

Asshole alert: Many shots of Chani looked like an advertisement for perfume. Given the actress, I always had the feeling she was going to snort a line of spice.

The entire movie looks like a perfume ad, TBH.

Beast.

The new fragrance from Paco Rabban.

[Gorefest]

I'm sure people would have still picked it up if you'd called it Glossu Rabban. But yeah, props.

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 16 November 2021 - 12:41 PM

[QuickTidal]

For anyone (like me) who hasn't seen it and wants to, it's up for rental and purchase on iTunes today.

[QuickTidal]

I finally got to watch it....and I LOVED it.

No surprise there.

The good thing is that my wife (who has never read the books or seen the other adaptations and knew nothing about DUNE) was able to follow along well and get some of the murkier connotations because the script was so clever at dropping info dump stuff into dialogue. I was REALLY impressed on that front actually. So often I would tamp down an instinct to tell my wife something about why something was a certain way, and seconds later the script would do it for me.

Then Voice translated better here than any other adaptation, with overlapped bits of Bene Gesserit voices onto Paul's or Jessica's. It was also not shy about showing the clear thievery elements of Star Wars from Dune....picking up on the Voice being a Jedi mind trick for example.

I feel like we need to see Arakeen proper, as we really only saw it from a distance before the attack on the palace, so you don't quite get the lived in quality it could have shown, but I'll be happy to see it down the road as it features more heavily in MESSIAH (if Denis gets to make that one).

Focusing on Duncan as much as they did was smart. I'll say no more on that to avoid book spoilers.

I REALLY liked the notion of seeing spice in the air when the sand is disturbed. Nice effect.

The only thing I had to explain to my wife that the movie didn't translate well enough for her was the delineation between who was who...like the Harkonnen's are the immediate bad guys...but the Emperor and his Sardakuar are the bigger bad...she thought that they were one and the same. She then asked if the Emperor in Star Wars did that too...and yeah, he kind of did for there Clone Wars, played one side against the other.

Speaking of....did the Sardakuar have their own language in the books? I can't recall, but it worked REALLY well here to differentiate them for me.

Hope we see a Navigator in the second half as we've not seen one yet...and I wonder who they will cast as Irulan.

Anyways, can't wait for Part II now!

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

My picks for Irulan are McKenzie Davis, Elizabeth Debicki and Sophie Turner.

BTW, in the book Emperor Shaddam IV looks no older than 35 despite being in his early seventies. I hope Villeneuve finally takes that route and casts an actor in his late thirties to early forties, to convey the effectiveness of spice slowing down the process of aging.

[amphibian]

Each House and major entity in the books has a "battle language" on top of the encrypted communications. Chakobsa is what the Fremen used (because the Bene Gesserit seeded it all over) and a modified version of that is what Atreides used.

I don't think the books got into Sardaukar language much, but a variant of Chakobsaakes sense for them there. The Villeneuve movie making it a separate non-Chakobsa language is a nice touch.

[QuickTidal]

ContrarianMalazanReader, on 06 December 2021 - 05:54 PM, said:

My picks for Irulan are McKenzie Davis, Elizabeth Debicki and Sophie Turner.

BTW, in the book Emperor Shaddam IV looks no older than 35 despite being in his early seventies. I hope Villeneuve finally takes that route and casts an actor in his late thirties to early forties, to convey the effectiveness of spice slowing down the process of aging.

Davis and Debicki would be fine I guess, if a little bland...but ugh no to Sophie Turner...she's awful.

And frankly, no reason they can't widen the casting out to POC as well for both Irulan and Shaddam.

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

QuickTidal, on 06 December 2021 - 06:41 PM, said:

ContrarianMalazanReader, on 06 December 2021 - 05:54 PM, said:

My picks for Irulan are McKenzie Davis, Elizabeth Debicki and Sophie Turner.

BTW, in the book Emperor Shaddam IV looks no older than 35 despite being in his early seventies. I hope Villeneuve finally takes that route and casts an actor in his late thirties to early forties, to convey the effectiveness of spice slowing down the process of aging.

Davis and Debicki would be fine I guess, if a little bland...but ugh no to Sophie Turner...she's awful.

And frankly, no reason they can't widen the casting out to POC as well for both Irulan and Shaddam.

I know Turner is a terrible actress. My suggestion was purely based on looks and since Irulan is very much a peripheral character, she wouldn't have much to do.

Anyway, regardless of ethnicity, I really hope Shaddam IV is portrayed by an actor in his late thirties to early forties.

This post has been edited by ContrarianMalazanReader: 06 December 2021 - 07:12 PM

[QuickTidal]

ContrarianMalazanReader, on 06 December 2021 - 07:09 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 06 December 2021 - 06:41 PM, said:

ContrarianMalazanReader, on 06 December 2021 - 05:54 PM, said:

My picks for Irulan are McKenzie Davis, Elizabeth Debicki and Sophie Turner.

BTW, in the book Emperor Shaddam IV looks no older than 35 despite being in his early seventies. I hope Villeneuve finally takes that route and casts an actor in his late thirties to early forties, to convey the effectiveness of spice slowing down the process of aging.

Davis and Debicki would be fine I guess, if a little bland...but ugh no to Sophie Turner...she's awful.

And frankly, no reason they can't widen the casting out to POC as well for both Irulan and Shaddam.

I know Turner is a terrible actress. My suggestion was purely based on looks and since Irulan is very much a peripheral character, she wouldn't have much to do.

I mean, her part is inarguably larger in MESSIAH, so they kind of need to cast someone who can act. Also why would you cast based on looks alone? That's really dumb.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 06 December 2021 - 07:19 PM

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

OK then, let's disregard that one.

I wonder if Count Fenrig will feature in part 2. If he does my crazy casting choice is Elijah Wood.

[Malankazooie]

[Maark Abbott]

Who would I like Shaddam to be?

Christopher Judge.

Indeed.

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

Maark Abbott, on 13 December 2021 - 09:05 AM, said:

Who would I like Shaddam to be?

Christopher Judge.

Indeed.

Christopher Judge is 57 and looks like it.

I want Villeneuve to finally cast an actor in his late thirties to early forties, or least one who looks deceptively young to highlight the effects of the Spice slowing down physical aging.

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

So the movie premiered on HBO las night, and I tuned in and cranked up the colour saturation to its maximum, and even though it's just a minor detail, the viewing experience was a much improved one for me.

Seriously, this movie looks waaaaayyy better with boosted colours.

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

Florence Pugh is reportedly in talks to play Princess Irulan. I think she's an excellent choice.

[QuickTidal]

ContrarianMalazanReader, on 09 March 2022 - 06:59 AM, said:

Florence Pugh is reportedly in talks to play Princess Irulan. I think she's an excellent choice.

No longer just talks. She was properly cast last night.

I'm also on board for the choice. I believe she very much can nail what Irulan is about.

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

Christopher Walken is Emperor Shaddam IV.

Nothing against Walken, he's a great actor, but why can't we ever get an accurate portrayal of the Emperor?

[amphibian]

QuickTidal, on 09 March 2022 - 01:39 PM, said:

ContrarianMalazanReader, on 09 March 2022 - 06:59 AM, said:

Florence Pugh is reportedly in talks to play Princess Irulan. I think she's an excellent choice.

No longer just talks. She was properly cast last night.

I'm also on board for the choice. I believe she very much can nail what Irulan is about.

Shaddam and Irulan are supposed to be of Arabic descent. Shaddam is also supposed to look about 35 despite being 75+ due to tech and the "imperial genetics".

We're not getting accurate casting and this set of casting decisions (Walken as Shaddam) is also removing some of the Arabic/Islamic context that permeates Dune the book.

I like Walken and Pugh. I also think that they are not right for this role and that the film makers/casters are denting my enthusiasm for the movie.